When you are using styro dummies and buttercream, do you use dowels for support?

Do you just dowel them all together and ice them as a single cake (3 tier)?

Do you ice each one and stack them letting the icing between the layers to hold it all together?

What do you prefer to do?

I dont' use dowels at all.
I ice each one separate, and use BC as the 'glue' to hold them together.
It works well ... I pick up my 3 and 4 tier dummies by the top tier and they hold together fine.
With dummies, you also dont' have to ice the entire top of the cake ... just the outside edge that will show.

I do the same exact thing! The buttercream gets hard and "glues" them together.

i third that motion...
no need to dowel... if you want to ...
but you dont HAVE to...

Thank you so much. That eases my mind quite a bit.